November 20 , 2004

The archetypal complaint about this part of the world is the weather. I may be unique on this point, but I must come to the defense of the U.K.’s weather. It's actually quite great if you like a bit of predictability and routine in your life. The weather here anchors me: It's one thing I can count on day in and day out. The temperature is always between 40 and 50 degrees, any time, day or night, and it's been that way since the day I arrived. The skies are always overcast with just a little bit of mist in the air, but never really raining. I don’t even have to look out the window – I know exactly what to wear today. I find that comforting.

One complaint I did have early on in my visit was that there was too much walking. Belfast is not a huge city, but it's big enough, and it's a good half-hour walk to the center of town, where all the shopping and entertainment is located. The walk to class is 3/4 of a mile (someone in my house actually clocked it on a pedometer), which is farther than I'ld ever have to go on Centre’s cozy campus. Small streets and outdoor shopping are typical of European cities, so there are lots of pedestrians. At first, it seemed like a lot, but now I don’t even blink an eye at walking 2 miles to the Tesco in the city centre to buy groceries. The trek actually provides quite a good workout on the way back, when my arms are loaded down with produce.

So after two months of getting in shape by walking absolutely everywhere in Belfast, my friends and I decided that it was time to take on a real physical challenge. We devoted the entire day yesterday to scaling the massive Cave Hill on the outskirts of town and touring the famous Belfast castle which lies at the base of the hill.

From the road, the climb did not look so intimidating, but standing at the bottom, it appeared to be quite a challenge. As usual it was chilly, misty, and overcast, but we were of course prepared for that.